Best Way to Wash Antique Vintage Lace, Doilies and Fragile Material

Having lived in New England for many years, we would frequent antique shops, flea markets and yard sales. 

I LOVED finding treasures when shopping in such a historic and old place. The antiques in the east are so much older than in the west as the country history started in the east. We lived near Boston and I loved that there were so many antiques in the area. 

I obtained many pieces of lace, lace collars, and hand worked pieces back then. It isn't often where I live currently that you see many antiques as everyone in our area is aware of the value of those items. 

I was thrilled to find these old lace / crocheted squares in a bag at a second hand store. As you can see from the pictures, there are all sorts of lengths and pieces that were obviously meant to be used for a project at some point but the artist didn't get to finish the work. 

Nearly every piece has staining on it where a drink got spilled while working on it or the person sewing the squares together had dirty hands and the seams were dirty along the stitching etc. 

One square had rust on it like it got sprinkled with water and then rusted to whatever it was stored in or on at some point. You can kinda see that in the blurry picture and the one below it, as it is still there with all my washing.

With all that experience with old lace and vintage items, I have a method that I use to hand wash stained items to hopefully get the stain out but not damaging the item with harsh chemicals and bleaching agents. 

For at least 20 years, I have been using a product called "Zout" that you can purchase in the laundry isle at Walmart. Years ago, they sold it in a concentrated form and it worked a bit better than the spray more diluted form you can purchase it in now but it is still by far the best thing I have ever found for getting out difficult stains. 

I have used "Zout" on my wool carpet to get out: grass, red dirt / mud, burgundy paint, black and other colors of fingernail polish, a 12 ounce jar or blueberries in juice, blood, grease, red popsicle, red punch and colored kool aid among other body fluids left by my children or friends kids if you understand my meaning there. ;-) 

It is the only thing I have found to get out grease marks from a tube of "chap stick" or lip balm left in the pocket and going through the wash and dryer! I immediately spray "Zout" on the grease marks and scrub and out they come! 

So, you will understand why I love the product so much! If the stain is stubborn, I then will try "Totally Awesome Cleaner" and I will test this product on an area that is not visible as it can bleach or take away some of the color in an item so beware using both products can remove color from the item. It usually happens more with the awesome cleaner than the Zout but  just make sure to test the article before using them on an item that is worth something to you. 

I wish I had remembered to take a "before" picture of this lace before washing it but as usually happens to me, I am mid project before I remember to blog. I spray with the Zout and then rub the edges of the item together and then if that doesn't take the stain out, I will use my fingernail to gently scratch and rub the stained area which usually does the trick. But if that doesn't work, I will then try adding the "Totally Awesome Cleaner" to the mix. If those two don't work, I will then add some citrus oxygen product that is dry made by "Totally Awesome Cleaner" as well. 

To wash the over all item and not just spot cleaning, I will use "Woolite" cleaner as it is gentle but works as a good overall cleaner for fine linens, laces and wool products. 

If the item is white and I still have some staining as I did with the rusty lace square, I will put a mix of 3% hydrogen peroxide into water at a ratio of about 9 parts water and 1 part hydrogen peroxide. Make sure all the fabric is below the water line as it will slightly bleach anything in the mix but the stuff above the water won't which will leave stripes of color and bleaching. So, make sure it is all under the water and you can check it every few minutes to see if the stain has been removed. I left it for about 1/2 hour to an hour and then rinsed it well and hung it to dry. 

When hanging things to dry, I have learned a few lessons. I used wooden hangers or drying racks but the staining or shellac over the stain on the wood has bled onto the item causing more staining. Using a metal hanger can lead to rust marks on the fabric as well. So, I only use plastic hangers and drape them over the plastic to dry. I also learned to make sure they aren't touching each other or the wall, paint, shower stall etc as they can collect dust, dirt, soap scum etc from touching anything while it dries. You can even end up with water marks if they are at an angle or touching. 

So, make sure they are not touching anything and are not dripping in a spot that would damage anything below. I hang them off the shower spout to dry. 

Once they are fully dried, I stack them on top of each other still hanging so they don't wrinkle and also, if put into a bag or tote and they are even slightly wet, they can mildew or mold. That is super hard to remove once it is in a fabric or item and can discolor them permanently so I just leave them hanging on the plastic hanger until I use them or can store them properly once they are fully dry. 

Never machine wash these type of heirloom articles as they can twist and rip causing you to lose the item or some or all of the value of the item. 


I wasn't able to get all the rust out of the one square that had it but as you can see, it was mostly clean and I couldn't even tell where the red punch spots were on three of the squares and the peroxide took care of what was left of any dirt and grime on them. 

One warning, don't leave the peroxide on for a long time on fragile items as it is a type of bleach. Check your item often to make sure you don't ruin anything! 

Have a Blessed day!